A hands-on cooking class culminating in dinner served with salad, wine and beer.

Popular in Spain since Medieval times, the empanada originated from baked and fried pastries in the Middle East, and it arrived in Latin America over 500 years ago. Today, bakers from Peru, Chile, and Argentina pride themselves on making the perfect match — a sweet or savory filling and the warm pastry that holds it all together. In this easy going hands-on cooking class, you will learn to make empanada dough from scratch, and you will practice techniques of rolling the dough, shaping, and baking the empanadas using three fillings: savory beef and onion, savory vegetarian, and sweet apples for dessert. After baking the empanadas, you will enjoy them in a sit-down meal with seasonal salad, wine, and beer.

Born in Peru and based in San Francisco, California, Nico Vera is the founder, chef, mixologist, writer, and photographer for Pisco Trail. As a regular teacher and guest chef at 18 Reasons, his pop-up dinners and classes are a gastronomical tour of Peru’s criollo cuisine and its unique culinary history. Visit Pisco Trail’s calendar for a preview of upcoming events, or explore cocktails and recipes that are a 500 year fusion of Inca, Spanish, African, Chinese, and Japanese ingredients and cultures. In addition to the blog, you can follow Pisco Trail’s adventures on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.